Trying to defeat the worldwide problem
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Tami-Flu medication against bird flu
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Bird flu: Israel-Jordan hotline launched
Agriculture Ministry officials meet with Jordanian counterparts at Sheikh Hussein Bridge to discuss preparations for possibility of lethal virus reaching the region; Israel invited to E.U. forum regarding the issue
Agriculture Ministry officials met with their Jordanian counterparts for more than three hours Thursday at the Sheikh Hussein Bridge to discuss joint preparations for the possibility of bird flu arriving in the region.
During the meeting both sides agreed to update each other through a hotline, should one of the countries be infected.
Agriculture Ministry officials invited the Jordanians to train at their laboratory for chicken diseases in Beit Dagan.
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- Report: Israel, Syria to discuss bird flu
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The two sides agreed to meet once more in three weeks.
Ministry officials said cooperation with Jordan will
Positive Prognosis
Meital Beit Or-Yasur
Agriculture Ministry tests several chickens following reports over the weekend of possible contamination; results reveal the deadly virus has not reached Israel
allow Israel to receive updates regarding bird flu in Arab countries that do not have ties with Israel, such as Syria and Iraq.
Hospitals receive instructions to treat bird flu
Meanwhile, Israel received an invitation from the OIE - World Organization for Animal Health – to participate in a gathering of European Union countries at the start of November in Brussels.
The meeting is aimed at combining international forces to prepare for the disease.
During a Health Ministry briefing, officials said instructions on how to treat patients diagnosed with bird flu have been transferred to the hospitals.
They added that the ministry is constantly checking up on the implementation of these instructions.
Dr. Miki Giladi, head of the Infectious Disease unit at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, said staff members are already training.
"Preparations for the treatment of patients infected with bird flu are similar to that of the treatment for diseases such as Mad Cow Disease, Western Nile Fever, Anthrax and SARS," he said.
He added that all hospital teams have received information regarding bird flu and emergency room doctors have received orders of how to diagnose the lethal virus.
"If someone is suspected of being infected or has returned from a country where the virus exists, the patient will be handled with extra caution," he said.
"While at this stage the virus has not mutated and does not pass from person to person, every patient must be treated as if he is contagious, just like someone who arrives at the emergency room with tuberculosis," he said, adding that the patient would be sent to isolation and will receive TamiFlu medication from the Health Ministry's national stock.
"We are the most trained country in regard to the situation, more than other countries," he said.
